Chinese Tiananmen Square dissident says seeking asylum in Taiwan

TAIPEI, Aug 13 (Reuters) - A Chinese political dissident who
supported Tiananmen Square protesters after the bloody 1989
crackdown on pro-democracy activists is seeking asylum in Taiwan
after arriving last month as a tourist and overstaying his
permit, he said on Thursday.

Gong Yujian, 38, said threats and harassment against him by
Chinese authorities had been building in the decades since he
observed the protests as a middle-school student and made and
distributed posters supporting the movement.

"I was so young at the time, I didn't know what the
consequences would be," he told Reuters by phone from a
temporary residence in Taipei.

He said he was subjected to reeducation through labour in
the mid-1990s for over a year for his activism and has been
detained temporarily numerous times since.

Activists in touch with Gong said they were assisting him in
applying for asylum, though he had not formally made contact
with authorities.

Wu'er Kaixi, a former Tiananmen Square student leader who
lives in Taiwan, said he had called Taiwan's Mainland Affairs
Council, which deals with the status of Chinese political
refugees on the island, about Gong, but had not received a
response.

Mei-Hung Wu, spokeswoman for the council, said that it had
not received a formal application.

China views self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province and has
not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control. In
recent months a crackdown on human rights advocates in China has
intensified, prompting statements of concern from Taiwan
President Ma Ying-jeou.

Taiwan currently hosts around 10 political refugees from
China, though it has no codified law for dealing with such
claims, said Bo Tedards, director of Amnesty International's
Taiwan branch.

"They are dealt with on a case-by-case basis," Tedards said.

Gong entered Taiwan in late July as part of a tour group and
has already overstayed his entry permit. He said if he were to
be detained, he would rather face prison on the island than be
sent back to China.
(Reporting by Michael Gold; Editing by Nick Macfie)